Elliott Abrams: Hit NKorea Where It Hurts — Its Economy

The United States has been taking a soft approach when it comes to North Korea for some time, former Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams told Newsmax TV Tuesday, and more pressure needs to be put on the nation's finances and economy.

"We know that being easy and soft and the hand of friendship and all that doesn't work with Kim Jong-un," Abrams told "America's Forum" host John Bachman. "We have been a little bit soft on North Korea, frankly and what's it gotten us — nothing."

Internet service shut down in North Korea for nearly 10 hours Monday night after the United States vowed to respond to a cyber attack on Sony Pictures that Washington blamed on Pyongyang.

The White House and the State Department declined to say whether the U.S. government was responsible, and Abrams said it is just as well not to take credit for it.

"I'd like to see us take down their internet again and it's very important," said Abrams, but he doesn't believe Kim Jong-un cares much about the internet, anyway.

Further, few North Koreans have service, Abrams pointed out, and he'd rather see the United States go after the country's money.

"That's what really concerned them most during the Bush administration, when we went after their money and their banking system, and that's where I'd try to hit them again," he said.

There would not need to be congressional approval for President Barack Obama to target the North Korean banking systems, Abrams said. The president could just tell the Treasury Department to start cutting that country off from the international banking system.

"You can start telling other banks around the world no one who deals with North Korea can enter the U.S. banking system," he said. "You can make them, in a sense, a financial outlaw. We did that about 10 years ago and it really hurt their economy and boy, there's never been a better case for doing it than this one where we've now identified them."

The United States has been taking a soft approach when it comes to North Korea for some time, former Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams told Newsmax TV Tuesday, and more pressure needs to be put on the nation's finances and economy.